I received this book in exchange for a honest review from NetGalley.

I really loved this graphic novel adaptation of this classic book. The art is interesting and beautiful and this adaptation is just amazing overall. Well worth the read for lovers of the original and new readers who enjoy graphic novels.

To be clear: Parable of the Sower is a graphic novel adaptation of a novel by Octavia E. Butler (of the same name, in case that wasn’t clear). The novel originally published back in the ‘90s, and it seemed right to try and do something more with it now.
Damian Duffy handled the writing for the adaptation, and John Jenning lent his artwork. Together they brought Butler’s tale to all-new heights.
Set in the year 2024, this novel if full of heavy dystopian plot. Butler didn’t write a happy futuristic world, but instead something dark and disturbing. Here is a world without regulations; a world created by the consequences of our actions. In a world where we destroyed the environment.
This is the world that Lauren Olamina was born into. Her life had been protected; she lived in a world more similar to a bubble than she would have ever liked to admit. That it, up until everything changed for her. And then it was her turn to change the lives of others.

I can’t emphasize enough that this is an adaptation. Now, I personally love adaptations. And I think many others do as well (how many times have we hoped to see a book make it into the theaters?). So I was incredibly excited when I saw that this one was getting turned into a graphic novel.
Butler’s tale translated perfectly onto the pages here. I know that Duffy had to edit some things to make it all fit with Jenning’s artwork, but I think the end result was something that still felt true to the original works. Actually, I think they built upon it, but that’s just a personal opinion.
This graphic novel is perfect for any dystopian fan, or any fan of Octavia Butler, for that matter. And if you’re a fan of both, then you’re in luck. Because this adaptation has everything I could have hoped for, and then some.

One of my favorite Octavia Butler books, Parable of the Sower is a harsh tale about post-apocalyptic life. I feel like it could be adapted into graphic novel form really well, but I'm unsure this is how I would do it. The art feels unfinished, which I think is meant to be because of the journal style of the prose novel (or the book itself isn't finished yet -- but if that's the case i'm unsure why it's on netgalley at this point). It just wasn't a style I was a fan of. I wanted there to be color most of all, which could be amazing for this story.

People who enjoy this type of art style should give it a go, though! fantastic story per usual from Butler.

What an excellent graphic adaptation of timeless book.

After reading the graphic novel adaptation of Kindred, I was elated to read Parable of the Sower.

This story was easy to read and engaging, regardless of the in-progress panels. I recommend this adaptation to anyone who enjoys graphic novels. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing additional adaptations of Ms. Butler's other works.

I've read the book before and had formed my own mental image of characters and settings. I appreciated getting a different view of these for the same powerful story that I remember.

I will start this by saying that I have never read anything by Octavia E Butler and only became aware of her in the last couple of years. So when I say this graphic novel version of her story Parable of the Sower I thought this would be a nice way to be introduced to her. Now obviously this isn't the original but instead a graphic depiction of her original story. Just like a movie adaptation can help you fall in love with a book so can a graphic novel.

This a story set less than ten years from now where our environment has been destroyed to the point where the poor scavenge to survive and fires are dangerous because everything is so dry. Parts of society have fallen apart, the cops and fireman have to be paid to come out and then don't really do anything. The rich have gated themselves off from everyone else in order to give them a sense of safety. And "debt slavery" has been come common place and acceptable. The main character, Lauren, has what is called hyper-empathy where she can feel other peoples pain and pleasure. Through her life experiences in her short 16-18 years she has developed a new "religion" called Earthseed, where god is change and we need to live for each other.

This graphic novel made me much more interested in reading Butler's work. The drawing style is very interesting. Most graphic novels you see are versions of Manga so the art is very precise but this art, at times, gets down to almost base draft drawing with no defining figures. This worked really well with the story and at times was very appropriate due to the violent nature of parts of the story.

Definitely pick this one up if you are at all curious about Butler or even if you love her work. It just might enhance your love of her stories.

I enjoyed what I was able to get through but with unfinished artwork I had to give it up. It became too hard to follow the story without having read the book it was based on before.

I was given an early e-book copy of this graphic novel for review. Having read Octavia Butler’s original novel last year and enjoying it, I was excited to be able to review this graphic novel adaptation. However, I feel I can not give an accurate rating of this due to the fact that the graphics were very unfinished. This graphic adaptation is not being released until January 2020 and would have been easier to rate if they had waited until graphics were finished.
Ok, now on with the review. This adaptation does an excellent job with following along with the novel in its text conversations. The year is 2024 and the world is a much changed place. You are following Lauren Olamina who after a time is forced to flee her home due to extreme circumstances that occur. It is a place where no one is to be trusted but Lauren turns to her own developed faith called Earthseed and develops passages for this religion of hers. The road is a hard place but there are others who are seeking something more or fleeing themselves that she comes across along the way. I highly recommend reading the original novel before reading this to have a better appreciation of the message. This graphic novel helped refresh my memory on a few points that I had forgotten so it would be a great also for those of you that have read the book but wanted to re-visit this dystopian world.

My problem with this graphic novel was mostly due to the great expectations. I had read the adaptation of Kindred almost six months ago and I liked it a lot, so I was ready to repeat the experience, but this time the story was claustrophobic and sad (your usually post scarcity stuff) , and I also get the style of the author (sketchy tables, unfinished drawing, etc.) but all together they were too much for me and I didn't really appreciate that.

Il mio problema con questa graphic novel é da imputarsi soprattutto al fatto che avevo delle grosse aspettative in quanto avevo letto l'adattamento di Kindred circa sei mesi fa, mi era piaciuto tanto e mi aspettavo qualcosa di simile, ma stavolta la storia era claustrofobica e cupa (la classica storia post scarcity) e lo stile dell'autore (tavole solo abbozzate per esempio), per quanto avessero un senso nel descrivere questo tipo di storia, hanno formato un insieme di cose troppo pesanti perché il risultato poi mi piacesse.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I...am confused and frustrated. Or maybe this is just a good lesson for me: beware requesting ARCs of graphic novels?

I am a huge fan of the novel Parable of the Sower - it truly changed my life when I read it years ago. So no question, a 5-star story for me.

But the artwork here is so unfinished, I just have to wonder why the publisher even bothered to release an ARC of it? Because as it stands right now, it is so painful, confusing, and so obviously in flux that I would never ever recommend it. I hate to judge an unfinished work, but at the same time, this is what you provided for me to review?! I’m so torn.

I truly hope the artwork is made more vibrant and if nothing else, more clear in the final rendering. This gave me a frustration headache trying to read it, which makes me sad. It’s a terrifying and wonderful story, and I hope the final artwork will do it justice.

5 stars for the story/2 stars for the artwork

This review is based solely on the arc provided at no via Netgalley.

I love Octavia Butler and am well versed in her works. This graphic novel is a labor of that should be enjoyed by all who love the Parable of the Sower duology.

I was looking forward to reading this advanced copy, but the unfinished artwork made it a very difficult read. Some portions were so bad I couldn't even recognize the faces of the characters. I'm looking forward to reading the finished copy when it is released.

This is a difficult review to write because it is virtually impossible and certainly unfair to review a graphic novel where the artwork is as incomplete as it is here. The illustrations are key to the success of any graphic novel , and they are what really make a difference when you adapt such a beloved classic as the wonderful Parable of the Sower. From what I could see in several of the more finished panels, the illustrations have promise and certainly seem in keeping with the story, but there are not enough of them which have been completed to say that for sure. The storytelling is very true to the original book, and I really loved the decision to have Lauren's diary entries be written on lined paper, like they were written in a school exercise book. It works to both clearly delineate those sections from the rest of the story, and as the perfect way to illustrate her inner thoughts. It is a good thing that I was familiar with the story as otherwise I think it would have been a struggle to follow what was happening , quite often there is not enough distinction between the characters to determine who is involved in the conversation. I am sure that this is something that will be more resolved in the finished product, but right now it does make things difficult. As far as I can tell, the book will not gloss over the more difficult and disturbing scenes from the book, though I wish that I could see how the finished product will illustrate them.
I like the concept of a graphic version of the story, and this shows definite promise.
I read and reviewed an unfinished ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

The art in the review copy is unfinished and makes it very hard to complete a review of a graphic novel interpretation.

However, graphic novel may not be the best representation of this story. While the completed art is promising, the story is difficult to follow. The print will be small and details may get lost in the process of reading.

Unfortunately, even though I loved this title in original print, I cannot recommend this version.

First off: I received an ARC of this graphic novel through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own for better or worse, etc. On to my thoughts:

This book is GORGEOUS. I can't wait for it to come out in January 2020, because I am absolutely going to buy it. I hoard graphic novels and comics, as well as science fiction and fantasy literature, so this will fit right in with what I've got going. Plus, I have an abiding love for the work of Octavia Butler. Soooo... yeah, it's going to be mine.

The art, which was done by John Jennings is beautifully done. Although in this ARC it is incomplete, it still rocked my world. The completed pictures are lovely, but even the sketches show the promise of beautiful panels to come. And I have to say, the decision to show the journal entries as handwriting on bits of notebook paper was an artistically wonderful decision.

As for story, well, it's Parable of the Sower. This adaptation doesn't veer away from the source material.

4.5 out of 5 arbitrary items of rating.

If you've read the book, this provides an interesting addition to the story. If you haven't, you should, but if you'd rather skip it and go straight for the graphic novel, that's fine too. You'll miss out on a bit of brilliant storytelling direct from Butler, but this is still thoroughly satisfying, and will give you most of the story.

What do you think of graphic novel adaptations of existing literature? For me it really depends, but I liked this one a lot. Good art really helps for me, and Jennings certainly delivered there.

This graphic novel is a fantastic adaptation of Butler’s original work. The message and themes still come through strongly. I highly recommend this book for students who perhaps find the original work inaccessible for a variety of reasons. It still allows Butler’s amazing storytelling to shine through.

Even though this ARC is far from finished - the preface is missing and some art is just sketches - this graphic novel has the potential to be a huge up and coming seller next year. I just very recently finished reading the novel version of Parable of the Sower and loved the world building. This graphic novel version does it just as well as Butler's prose. The themes in the novel and this adaptation speak so poignantly to our experiences in 2019 and I hope this graphic novel will have more people exposed to Butler's genius.

The artwork is beautifully done. It creates this element of constant change as the strokes and specific drawing styles alter depending on the moment. Some characters are in full detail, others are hazy, creating a dream-like intensity. I appreciated the handwritten style, though it was difficult to follow the action at times given the small print.

I’m afraid this isn’t one for me, for a few reasons. I feel it overloads what should be a simple story with a clear moral message. As a result it missing the point of the purpose of a parable.
For me, personally, not only should the reader me able to understand Jesus’ message from any retelling, they should be able to understand what a parable is. Something I don’t think is possible with this title.

It was very hard reading this advanced copy. I don't know if it was because of the art style or because this is unfinished copy, but there were panels with nothing but smudges instead of characters. it was almost impossible to distinguish who is having a conversation with whom, who is who, etc.